Oklahoma Lawmakers Pass Workers’ Comp Legislation

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The Oklahoma Legislature passed four measures that alter the state workers’ compensation system, including one that requires Senate confirmation of Workers’ Compensation Court judges – a proposal that Gov. Brad Henry vetoed last year.

The House and Senate sent the measures to Henry for his signature a day before the Legislature adjourned its regular session. It was uncertain at press time whether Henry would sign them into law.

The author of the measures, Rep. Dan Sullivan, R-Tulsa, said he worked closely with the governor’s office while drafting the bills and that Henry, a Democrat, had agreed to sign them.

A spokesman for Henry, communications director Paul Sund, confirmed that Sullivan had discussed the legislation with the governor but said there is no agreement to sign the bills. “Governor Henry will withhold judgment until he reviews the final legislation,” Sund said in an e-mail response to an inquiry by The Associated Press.

Henry vetoed a bill requiring Senate confirmation of Workers’ Compensation Court judges in 2009, saying it would replace an efficient process with a “highly politicized” system that causes gridlock.

The governor appoints judges to the Workers’ Compensation Court from a list submitted by the Judicial Nominating Commission without Senate approval. In his veto message last year, Henry said replacing the process with one similar to the federal system would create partisan disputes that would delay appointments “and hinder the delivery of swift and effective justice.”

Some House members expressed similar concerns this time around. “Let’s keep this Washington-style of politics out of our courts,” said Rep. Mike Shelton, D-Oklahoma City.

Shelton and Rep. Richard Morrissette, D-Oklahoma City, said the court’s judicial appointment process works and questioned why supporters want to change it. “What is broken? Why are we changing it?” Morrissette asked.

He questioned claims by supporters of the change that Senate confirmation of judges will enhance the court’s impartiality.

Sullivan maintains the legislation could save up to $120 million in the system for compensating workers who are injured on the job, lowering the cost of workers’ compensation insurance and making the state more attractive to employers.

The number of Workers’ Compensation Court judges would be reduced from 10 to eight and requires that five judges be permanently assigned to Oklahoma City and three to Tulsa. The reduction will occur by not replacing the first two judgeships that become vacant.

The legislation also requires that any judge have at least five years’ experience in the workers’ compensation field.